Strawberry and Ancho chile barbecue sauce

Posted by petra08 on June 9, 2017 · 29 Comments 

This time of the year is wonderful for fresh produce. We are in the middle of the asparagus season, the allotment is already producing lots of spinach, delicate kale and the first strawberries are ripe.

It seems the garden of England is full of strawberries and I can’t stop eating them. I got carried away and bought three punnets, ok there was a deal and who doesn’t love a good bargain?

 

I wanted to use some of the strawberries for something savory. I had some chicken thighs and decided to see if I could make a barbecue sauce. It is barbecue season and I thought it would be great to try something new.

Strawberries are sweet but they can also have a slight hint of tart in the flavor and I thought this would work.

 

I had an Ancho chile, I took a red dried chili and a garlic clove and got to work.

 

 

Strawberry and Ancho chili barbecue sauce 

preparation time 10 minutes 

cooking time 8 minutes 

serves 4

Ingredients

• 6 strawberries, chopped
• 1 dried Ancho Chile
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
• 1 dried red chile
• 1/2 dl or 1/4 cup runny honey, possibly more to taste
• zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

Slice the chilies and cover with boiling water. Let them soak for 5-10 minutes.

Chop the strawberries and the garlic clove. Place in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the lemon zest, juice and the soaked chilies. Blend again until smooth.

Place all of the ingredients in a pan with the honey and cook for 8 minutes. Taste and see if you want to add more honey. Let the sauce cool.

The sauce is dark in color and is rich and complex in flavor.

 

I had more strawberries and thought I would do sun dried strawberries. Well, there wasn’t quite enough sun so I made them in the oven. I had a couple of flat peaches so I sun dried them as well at the same time.

 

Sun dried rosemary strawberries

preparation time 5 minutes 

cooking time 40-45 minutes 

oven 130C or 266F

serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 12 strawberries, cut in quarters
• 2 flat peaches, not fully ripe, de stoned and chopped
• 1 sprig of rosemary, the leaves only, chopped
• a good pinch of sumac
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Place the strawberries and cut up peaches in a bowl. Add rosemary, sumac and olive oil, make sure the strawberries and peaches are coated.

Spread the strawberries and peaches on an oven tray and roast. They are ready when they start to caramelize in the edges. Taste along the way and leave them to cool once cooked until you are ready to serve.

 

 

Strawberry Ancho chile Chicken

preparation time 5 minutes + time to marinate

cooking time 40 minutes + 15 minutes resting 

oven 175C or 347F

serves 3-4 

Ingredients

• 8 chicken thighs
• 1 red onion, cut in half
• 4 tbsp strawberry and Ancho chile barbecue sauce

Coat the chicken with the barbecue sauce. If you have time leave them to marinade over night. I could only leave them for 20 minutes and that worked as well. Brush the onion with the barbecue sauce.

Bake the chicken thighs in the oven for about 40 minutes or until the juices are running clear when pierced.

 

 

Garnish the chicken with the sun dried strawberries before serving.

 

 

I served the chicken with rice and a tomato sauce. The dish was all about flavor and the barbecue sauce is a keeper!

 

I want to share this recipe and am bringing it to Angie’s Fiesta Friday. There are so many delicious recipes, come and join us! This week the lovely Monika, Everyday Healthy Recipes and Suzanne, A Pug In The Kitchen are co hosting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Filed under Allotment/Veg, Chicken, Chilli, Fruit, Garlic, Lemon, Main course, Meat, Recipe, Strawberry · Tagged with Ancho chile, Ancho chile sauce, barbecue sauce, strawberry barbecue sauce